Drying your peppers and making crushed red pepper flakes is a great way to use your excess hot peppers and one that will help keep you warm throughout the cold New England winter! Any variety of red peppers can be used to make red pepper flakes. You can experiment and mix various types of red peppers to find the taste that suits your palate best.

2 pounds Red Peppers
Cookie Sheet
Zippered Freezer Bag
Rolling Pin
Old Pillow Case
Container with Shaker Top

Spread your red peppers in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Dry in the oven for 8 hours or overnight at the lowest temperature your oven will allow. Remove the red peppers from the oven when they are dry and brittle.

Fill a gallon sized freezer bag with the dried peppers. Put the freezer bag in an old pillowcase. Use the rolling pin to crush the peppers. Apply pressure as your roll the pin over the bag. Alternatively you could chop them with the blade of your food processor. Remove them from the bag when the peppers are crushed as fine as you would like, and store in a container with a shaker top

Store any extra red pepper flakes in a clean storage bag or jar with a tight fitting lid.